Published: Friday, May 3, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 10:22 p.m.

COLUMBUS — Like most college students, Heather Cash is wrapping up final exams today at the University of South Carolina Upstate. Unlike most college students, however, Cash isn't fretting over a summer job or daydreaming about summer vacations.

Instead, the Green Creek resident will wrap up her exams and turn her attention to something much more serious. Cash has a brain tumor and on Wednesday, the 21-year-old will undergo her second brain surgery in the last three years.

Before that surgery, friends and family are going to love on her and raise money to help with her expenses. At 3 p.m. Saturday at the Event Center in Saluda, country star Maggie Rose will perform, along with local bands Loaded Toad and Project X.

In 2010, Cash moved to Charleston, S.C. to attend the College of Charleston after graduating from Landrum (S.C.) High School. The first month didn't go as planned, however. She became overwhelmed with anxiety. Calls home became frequent, but they weren't calls to chat with her mom, Polk County Sheriff's Office Detective B.J. Bayne. It was something else.

“I was just calling her all the time, crying and freaking out,” Cash said.

Three weeks later, her mom was in Charleston and Cash was packing up to go home. Over the next couple of months, Cash gained 64 pounds. Her skin broke out. In December of that year, she began to lose her eyesight. That was the last straw.

In January 2011, Cash got her first MRI. It showed nothing. The doctors said her problems were probably the result of separation anxiety and recommended her parents get her a puppy.

“I felt like I was going crazy,” Cash said.

In late January, her anxiety took on a new level — it turned to rage. Her mom had to hold her down on the bed until she calmed down. Bayne found a different doctor and requested another MRI.

The results of this MRI proved that Cash wasn't imagining anything at all. For the last few months, she'd been working out at the gym because she was gaining weight, staying up days at a time with an obsessive-compulsive desire to clean the house and had been dealing with anxiety that felt like electrical surges going through her body.

The MRI showed that Cash had a tumor on her pituitary gland. It wasn't a small tumor either — It was pushing against her optical nerve, which was causing her to lose her eyesight.

Cash was actually relieved.

“I wanted them to tell me something was there,” she said. “It was worse when we didn't know what it was.”

After hearing the options that were offered at the Medical University of South Carolina and at Duke University, Bayne and Cash weren't pleased with what they were hearing. They went home, researched and found Dr. Nelson Oyesiku at Emory University in Atlanta.

Within two days they were in his office. Oyesiku examined Cash and diagnosed her with Cushing's disease. The doctor also recommended that the tumor be removed immediately and the way he wanted to do it was more agreeable to Cash and her mother.

All of Cash's symptoms pointed to Cushing's, which is hard to diagnose because it mimics other diseases. Tumors, anxiety, memory loss, stress fractures, high blood pressure, weight gain and a host of other symptoms define Cushing's, which results from high levels of cortisol in the body.

Despite the hardships, she finished her school semester in the spring of 2011 at North Greenville University. On July 13, after a series of difficult tests, Cash had her tumor removed. She stayed in the hospital for nearly two weeks before returning home.

Everything was fine until she woke up one night with blood on her face. Her maxilla artery had ruptured. Doctors got the bleeding under control, but Cash went to Atlanta to get checked out. After a series of tests, she was filling out discharge papers when she felt sick. She was bleeding again.

“I hit my knees and prayed, ‘God, please take me and not her,'” Bayne said. “She has more faith than I've ever thought of, but I know miracles happen.”

After that incident, Cash lived a mostly normal life. “I do feel terrible all the time,” she said. “I don't know what it feels like to feel good.”

Cash has broken her ankles due to bone and muscle deterioration caused by the disease. Her doctors have also tried to convince her to quit school. They told her there's no way she would be able to make the grades in her class due to memory loss and difficulty focusing, on top of the strain of coping with a major disease that has no cure.

Cash is about to wrap up another school year, however, and zero in on one more step toward fighting the disease. Her next surgery will invovle removing the pituitary gland and scarred tissue around it. Despite the fear and dangers associated with the surgery and the disease, Cash and Bayne are upbeat. They're able to laugh and talk about the future without the appearance of stress and anxiety.

Cash, an intelligent and mature young woman, refuses to take her pain medicine because she wants to feel the pain and know if something is wrong.

The new tumor was discovered in January after Cash began feeling sick. A progression of symptoms sent them back to Atlanta and the new surgery was scheduled. Despite the setback, Cash sat at the Polk County Sheriff's Office Thursday afternoon with a smile on her face.

Bayne is in awe of her daughter's strength. For Cash, it's about faith.

“I don't see how people that don't have faith go through this,” she said. “What do you lean on?”

And despite the fear, the anxiety and the pain, Cash has become a spokesperson for people with Cushing's disease. The tough road to Wednesday's surgery is just one fight in a struggle faced daily by people around the country, she said.

“My story is exactly like hundreds of people's,” she added.

To donate toward the cost of Cash's surgery and for more information about the benefit, visit www.helpheather.com.

<p>COLUMBUS — Like most college students, Heather Cash is wrapping up final exams today at the University of South Carolina Upstate. Unlike most college students, however, Cash isn't fretting over a summer job or daydreaming about summer vacations.</p><p>Instead, the Green Creek resident will wrap up her exams and turn her attention to something much more serious. Cash has a brain tumor and on Wednesday, the 21-year-old will undergo her second brain surgery in the last three years.</p><p>Before that surgery, friends and family are going to love on her and raise money to help with her expenses. At 3 p.m. Saturday at the Event Center in Saluda, country star Maggie Rose will perform, along with local bands Loaded Toad and Project X.</p><p>In 2010, Cash moved to Charleston, S.C. to attend the College of Charleston after graduating from Landrum (S.C.) High School. The first month didn't go as planned, however. She became overwhelmed with anxiety. Calls home became frequent, but they weren't calls to chat with her mom, Polk County Sheriff's Office Detective B.J. Bayne. It was something else.</p><p>“I was just calling her all the time, crying and freaking out,” Cash said.</p><p>Three weeks later, her mom was in Charleston and Cash was packing up to go home. Over the next couple of months, Cash gained 64 pounds. Her skin broke out. In December of that year, she began to lose her eyesight. That was the last straw.</p><p>In January 2011, Cash got her first MRI. It showed nothing. The doctors said her problems were probably the result of separation anxiety and recommended her parents get her a puppy.</p><p>“I felt like I was going crazy,” Cash said.</p><p>In late January, her anxiety took on a new level — it turned to rage. Her mom had to hold her down on the bed until she calmed down. Bayne found a different doctor and requested another MRI.</p><p>The results of this MRI proved that Cash wasn't imagining anything at all. For the last few months, she'd been working out at the gym because she was gaining weight, staying up days at a time with an obsessive-compulsive desire to clean the house and had been dealing with anxiety that felt like electrical surges going through her body.</p><p>The MRI showed that Cash had a tumor on her pituitary gland. It wasn't a small tumor either — It was pushing against her optical nerve, which was causing her to lose her eyesight.</p><p>Cash was actually relieved.</p><p>“I wanted them to tell me something was there,” she said. “It was worse when we didn't know what it was.”</p><p>After hearing the options that were offered at the Medical University of South Carolina and at Duke University, Bayne and Cash weren't pleased with what they were hearing. They went home, researched and found Dr. Nelson Oyesiku at Emory University in Atlanta.</p><p>Within two days they were in his office. Oyesiku examined Cash and diagnosed her with Cushing's disease. The doctor also recommended that the tumor be removed immediately and the way he wanted to do it was more agreeable to Cash and her mother.</p><p>All of Cash's symptoms pointed to Cushing's, which is hard to diagnose because it mimics other diseases. Tumors, anxiety, memory loss, stress fractures, high blood pressure, weight gain and a host of other symptoms define Cushing's, which results from high levels of cortisol in the body.</p><p>Despite the hardships, she finished her school semester in the spring of 2011 at North Greenville University. On July 13, after a series of difficult tests, Cash had her tumor removed. She stayed in the hospital for nearly two weeks before returning home.</p><p>Everything was fine until she woke up one night with blood on her face. Her maxilla artery had ruptured. Doctors got the bleeding under control, but Cash went to Atlanta to get checked out. After a series of tests, she was filling out discharge papers when she felt sick. She was bleeding again. </p><p>Cash ended up losing eight liters of blood. Under most circumstances, a person wouldn't survive. Cash did.</p><p>“I hit my knees and prayed, 'God, please take me and not her,'” Bayne said. “She has more faith than I've ever thought of, but I know miracles happen.” </p><p>After that incident, Cash lived a mostly normal life. “I do feel terrible all the time,” she said. “I don't know what it feels like to feel good.”</p><p>Cash has broken her ankles due to bone and muscle deterioration caused by the disease. Her doctors have also tried to convince her to quit school. They told her there's no way she would be able to make the grades in her class due to memory loss and difficulty focusing, on top of the strain of coping with a major disease that has no cure.</p><p>Cash is about to wrap up another school year, however, and zero in on one more step toward fighting the disease. Her next surgery will invovle removing the pituitary gland and scarred tissue around it. Despite the fear and dangers associated with the surgery and the disease, Cash and Bayne are upbeat. They're able to laugh and talk about the future without the appearance of stress and anxiety.</p><p>Cash, an intelligent and mature young woman, refuses to take her pain medicine because she wants to feel the pain and know if something is wrong.</p><p>The new tumor was discovered in January after Cash began feeling sick. A progression of symptoms sent them back to Atlanta and the new surgery was scheduled. Despite the setback, Cash sat at the Polk County Sheriff's Office Thursday afternoon with a smile on her face. </p><p>Bayne is in awe of her daughter's strength. For Cash, it's about faith.</p><p>“I don't see how people that don't have faith go through this,” she said. “What do you lean on?”</p><p>And despite the fear, the anxiety and the pain, Cash has become a spokesperson for people with Cushing's disease. The tough road to Wednesday's surgery is just one fight in a struggle faced daily by people around the country, she said.</p><p>“My story is exactly like hundreds of people's,” she added. </p><p>To donate toward the cost of Cash's surgery and for more information about the benefit, visit www.helpheather.com.</p><p>Reach Millwood at 828-694-7881 or at joey.millwood@blueridgenow.com.</p>